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Emotions Arc
Part 3: Acceptance
Written by Sailor Yavin IV
"You were always a coward deep down, Nio..." The voice faded back into Honouko's towards the end of the phrase. Honouko closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she found she was not in the shopping mall. She looked around only to see a blue sky and clouds around her -- she was standing on one, as a matter of fact.
"Where am I?" Her voice echoed throughout the clouds.
"The spirit world -- the good part of it, anyway," a voice said from behind her. Honouko whirled around to find a young woman with long white braided hair standing there. The figure smiled. "Nio's half is much more unpleasant."
"Are you...?" Honouko couldn't finish her question. She was too shocked. The woman in front of her had Honouko's face, except for the eyes. The woman's were silver; hers were blue. "You have to be..."
"Your mother," she finished, nodding. "I am. But I can't talk for long, so listen closely--"
"But I have so many questions, so much to tell you! Please, can't it wait?" Honouko pleaded. "Please."
She smiled sadly. "I wish I could. Perhaps when you get stronger, but for now, I can only talk to you for so long."
"When I get stronger? But I'm strong already!" Honouko insisted.
"Listen to me, Honouko. You are a senshi, chosen by fate to protect this galaxy in the name of our guardian planet, Yavin 4."
"Our...?"
"Well, our family's guardian. It's a partnership -- we guard it, and it guards us. We work together as one, and this shows in your ability to become a Sailor Senshi using the jewel."
Honouko's fingers automatically went to her forehead. "Your jewel?"
Hikari, as Honouko now knew it must be, nodded. "Passed down to me and guarded for generations, and finally unlocked in your power. It is how you will eventually kill Nio."
"So that's why he was so frightened," Honouko said slowly.
"Yes. He knows you could kill him with this power. But beware," Hikari said, taking Honouko's hands in her own, "he is still stronger than you now. He will try to kill you again, next time using his full strength."
Honouko's eyes went wide. "That wasn't his full power?"
"Of course not. He was always cocky and full of himself," Hikari said, smiling weakly. "It was why I loved him -- or so I thought."
"Mom--"
"Never mind that. Now, the jewel is your key to transforming into Sailor Yavin 4. Say 'Yavin 4 Angel Crystal, Make Up' when you need to morph. And make sure no one sees you transform -- you cannot let anyone else, outside of other senshi, know who you are in both guises."
Honouko sighed. "More secrets to keep -- wait, other senshi? I...I'm not the only one?" Her voice rose with hope.
"Yes, there are others, even some on Coruscant, but where exactly you'll have to find yourself. They'll be hard to find." Hikari's form began to fade in and out.
"Mom!?" Honouko shouted, panicked.
"I told you I didn't have much time. Now, listen -- you will gain new attacks like Angel Strike as you grow stronger as a senshi and as a person. The words will form in your heart and you'll know what to say." Hikari became quite transparent -- Honouko could see the clouds behind her.
She threw her arms around her mother, crying. "Mom, I..." Logic hit her again. "What about Tomo? She knows about -- about--"
"I saw that. Sometimes... people can be trusted with your deepest secrets. They'll even accept them."
"Accept them?"
"I have to go, Honouko," Hikari said quietly, her form quickly dissipating. "But I will see you again. Goodbye... daughter."
Honouko's arms collapsed around nothing. She looked around frantically, then closed her eyes.
Slowly, Honouko's eyes opened once more, losing their entranced look. She shook her head, like she was trying to get something out of her mind.
It felt like someone took over my body, and then I saw you... mom, I finally got to see you...
"Honouko!" Honouko looked up to see Tomo leaping over the counter and running to her. "Honouko, what was that? Your voice went all weird, and who was that guy? You said your father, but Gage--"
Honouko sighed and shut off her sword's fire blade. She had to tell her now.
"It's... a long story." Looking down, she said, "One you probably won't believe."
"Says who?" Tomo took one of Honouko's hands in a kind way. "C'mon, we can go in my office and talk." She began to gently pull Honouko towards the center of the store. "Let's grab your bags and go in there."
Honouko nodded and followed Tomo to her office, wherein she shut the door and the two sat down.
"So... what was all that?" Tomo asked after a moment's silence.
Honouko swallowed and began her story, starting with Nio and her mother, Hikari, how she was born from them with Nio's deception. She went on to explain that Gage had found and rescued her and raised her on Yavin 4 until Nio killed him and nearly killed her as well. Honouko finally ended with, "I'm half-demon, half-angel. I have powers and all, but Nio won't stop until he kills me." She sighed and looked away from Tomo. "Please don't tell. I'll leave as soon as I can."
"Why?"
Honouko's head snapped back up to stare at Tomo. "What?"
"Why should you leave?" she asked, cocking her head to one side, "Just because you're part
demon?"
Honouko nodded earnestly. "Aren't you... disgusted or afraid, or...?"
Tomo laughed. "Uh, no. Maybe if we were enemies or something, but you're one of the good guys -- er, good girls, you know? You totally kicked Nio's butt back there. You're on the right side!" She stood up and began searching through one of the filing cabinets in the office. "Besides, you're part angel, too -- even if you were just part human instead of angel, you'd still be okay. You decide what you are, you know?" Tomo pouted and went to another filing cabinet. "Now, dangitall, where is that thing?"
Honouko had a blank look on her face. She doesn't care? Then... Gage was--
"Worried for you, hon. He always saw the worst in people -- it was his job," a voice rang in her head. "People will accept you, though I wouldn't tell everyone I met. Maybe just Tomo, for now."
Honouko smiled as the voice faded. "Mom," she whispered.
"Here it is!" Tomo shouted suddenly, making Honouko jump out of her chair, her sword at the ready. Tomo giggled and held up a dog-eared book. "Oops. Sorry. I found the book I was looking for." Honouko rolled her eyes and sat down, letting her blade go back out. As Tomo sat down, Honouko looked at the book more closely. The title was Legends and Myths of Old: Fact Based or Mere Dreams? Tomo already had it opened up to a page in the middle of the paperback.
"'Guardian soldiers of the galaxy -- real or a wish for a more peaceful world idealized?'" Tomo read. She gave Honouko a small, knowing look before reading another excerpt from the book. "'These guardians, sometimes also called senshi, had powers from a given planet and supposedly kept peace alongside the Jedi in days long since past. They were said to also have powers over certain forces or objects in the galaxy. They kept the peace in the name of these forces or objects.'" Looking back up at Honouko, Tomo handed over the book and pointed to a hand-drawn picture. "You're one of them, aren't you?"
Honouko looked at the sketchy drawing. It showed a young woman in a shortish pleated skirt, high heels and a longish collar. She was in a dramatic pose, her face shrouded by her hair so as to keep her anonymous. Looking down at herself, Honouko let out a laugh.
"It does look similar, doesn't it?" She gave a tug at her skirt. "My skirt's longer, though."
"It says that this was the 'basic outfit.' Some more powerful guardians were supposed to have cooler outfits," Tomo said, a happy gleam in her eyes. "So... you're a senshi?"
Honouko nodded slowly. "Sailor Senshi Yavin 4, I guess..."
Tomo jumped up with her book and began cheering wildly. Again, Honouko was startled, but she knew better than to start up her blade. Grinning, Tomo grabbed a pen and turned the book to the table of contents. Some of the titles of the chapters had checkmarks in pen next to them. Looking down the list, Tomo put a bright green checkmark next to chapter 42, entitled "Guardian Soldiers (senshi)."
Honouko looked at Tomo, confusion written all over her face. Tomo, laughing, explained.
"Besides fashion design, finding myths and stuff that are actually true is a hobby of mine. All of the ones with marks next to them I've seen myself and proved the myth is true!" she said, handing the book over to Honouko.
"There's... a lot more to you than I first thought," Honouko admitted as she looked up and down the list. "I'll say that at first, I thought--"
"That I was a ditz?" Tomo asked, sitting down with another smile. Honouko blushed and, hiding her face behind the book, nodded. "That's one thing you'll learn about people, Honouko, once you're around them more. You can't tell everything about a person with one glance."
Honouko smiled softly behind the book. Tomo sounds like mom...
"Anyway!" Tomo jumped up again, once more startling Honouko, who still wasn't quite used to her sporadic way of moving. "I have a feeling that this is supposed to be some kinda secret, right?" Honouko nodded. "My lips are sealed, then! Consider it safe, Honouko!"
Honouko smiled, but it quickly turned to a frown at another thought. "And the demon-angel stuff, too, right? I mean, please don't tell anyone..."
"Not Shinwa? I won't tell him about the senshi bit for sure, but I'm sure he'd understand--"
"No!" she shouted. There was a short silence before she repeated herself. "No, please. I'd rather not -- at least, not right now. I..."
Tomo gave an understanding smile and walked over to Honouko, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, I won't. You can tell him when you're ready." Looking up at Tomo, Honouko smiled.
"Thanks."
"Now, you should probably change back to your normal, non-guardian self before Lana bursts in here, hysterical," Tomo suggested. She laughed. "And before they make us clean up this mess."
Honouko laughed as well. "Yeah..."
Nio didn't even wince as a servant demon sewed his wing back together. He was too preoccupied with anger to care about the pain coursing through his wing.
"Damn girl," he muttered. "Stupid legend!" He banged a clawed fist against the arm of his chair. His servant remained unfazed and ignored his master's outbursts, simply concentrating on the broken wing.
"The senshi were alive long ago, but were killed off. They died -- they should all be DEAD!" he screamed, hitting the chair again. He glared at the servant, his red eyes aflame. "Are you almost done?!?"
"Th-th-the joint is r-repaired, master," the servant stuttered, shrinking into the shadows. "B-but the wing still n-n-needs to be sewed up fully--"
"Then do it!" Nio shouted. His voice echoed off the cavern's dank walls, like there was a hundred of him shouting the command.
"Y-yes, my master," he replied, skittering back to his place next to Nio's wing. He picked up the bone needle and began stitching it up once more.
Nio went back to brooding. "A senshi, back to life... and Hikari..." He closed his eyes. "I saw your blood flow from your neck -- I made it fall with my own claws! I know you died..." He opened his eyes and looked up at the cave's ceiling. "That had to be you... that voice, those eyes... that power..." Growling under his breath, Nio looked back at the nervous servant as he worked. His wing was almost fully repaired now. Nio turned back and stared straight forward at nothing in particular.
"I killed you... I'll just kill her, too."
"The Lower Coruscant Techno Shopping Center suffered a tragedy today, with one person dead and numerous others injured..."
Shinwa dropped the hydrospanner he had been holding and sat up straight. He bumped his head on the ship and swore under his breath before shouting, "Cia, turn it up! That's where Tomo and Honouko went!"
Cia gulped, knowing who had ultimately caused the destruction. She turned up the holovision, saying, "I hope they're okay..."
"...a winged man of unknown species, but appearing humanoid, attacked the store, saying nothing, but throwing people and clothing racks, ultimately killing an as yet unidentified young woman."
"No..." Shinwa scuttled out from under the Jungle Crasher and ran in to watch the holovision on Cia's screens.
Scenes of the sopping wet clothing store was being shown as a frantic young woman's voice spoke over the screen.
"This big guy with blood red hair just came in and started throwing things around! I -- I fainted, I was so scared!"
Shinwa swallowed hard. "That's Lana's voice."
"Lana?"
"Tomo's co-worker and friend." He closed his eyes. "It can't be him," he said quietly.
"What?"
"I'm baaaack!" came a joyous shout from outside of the ship. Shinwa jumped up and ran outside the ship, skidding to a halt on the bottom of the landing ramp. Looking at the hangar entrance, he relaxed a bit when he saw Tomo standing there with several shopping bags. When he didn't see Honouko right behind his sister, he immediately tensed up again.
"Where's Honouko?!" Shinwa slid down the ramp and sped over to Tomo. "Tomo, where is she? Is she--"
"She's fine, silly!" Tomo said, waving it off. "She just went to get her arm stitched up. It got scratched pretty bad--"
"What about the thing I saw on the news?! The Techno Mall was attacked--"
Tomo laughed, albeit a bit nervously. "Yeah, that's how she got scratched. A wayward clothing rack hit her by her shoulder on her upper arm. It didn't bleed tons, but it was deep enough--"
"Thank goodness..." Shinwa relaxed once more. "She's with Dr. Knait right now, right?"
"Yeah, Shinwa, of course." She looked her brother up and down, her eyes glittering. "Hmm, someone was really worried, weren't they?"
Shinwa began to pace. "Of course I was worried! You and Honouko were out at the mall, and then this report comes in about an attack and a death and--" He stopped when he saw that Tomo was still watching him with a certain look in her eyes. "What?"
She smiled. "You were more worried about Honouko than me, weren't you?"
Shinwa's face became quite flushed and he began stuttering. "I -- I was worried about both of you--"
"Sure you were." Tomo grinned and walked past him. "I'll just put these in Honouko's ship."
"Ooh, can I see what she got?" Cia asked.
"Yeah! Where are your cameras so I can show you?" Tomo's voice trailed off as the ship ramp closed behind her.
Shinwa was still standing by the hangar entrance, his face just starting to regain its normal color. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and started down the hallway to check on Honouko.
"Blood red hair and wings," he muttered to himself. "There's only one thing that could be. Man, I hope not..." Picking up the pace a bit, he continued talking under his breath. "If its him... I thought Gage had gotten him."
When he reached Dr. Knait's office, he almost walked straight in until he saw the scars: four marks, evenly spaced, and very, very raw. Luckily, Honouko and the doctor were turned away from him, so he was able to go away unnoticed.
"It has to be." Running to one of the bathrooms, he locked the door and took off his shirt. Shinwa stared in the mirror at the four long scars on his chest, starting at his upper-left shoulder and ending on the right of his abdomen. Grazing them with his fingers, he gritted his teeth.
"It was you, wasn't it? You or one of your cronies..." Shinwa grunted and punched out the mirror, ignoring the pain that came afterwards.
"Damn you, Nio. You won't take another person from me. Not my sister... not angel. No one."